Smasher:Sparg0: Difference between revisions

Coming off his strongest year yet, Sparg0 was eyeing the throne for the following year. Unfortunately, Sparg0's initial few performances were rather mixed for a #1 contender. Although Sparg0 started off with a strong run to 2nd at {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2023}} and 5th at {{Trn|GENESIS 9}}, his next two major performances saw some missteps. At {{Trn|Collision 2023}}, although he ultimately placed 3rd, Sparg0 was double-eliminated by {{Sm|Skyjay}}, giving him two non-top 10 losses for the season. He then followed it up with arguably his worst performance since the pandemic period: at {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}, Sparg0 ultimately went 2-4, only defeating two players who were not ranked in the top 100 that season, and was notably upset by {{Sm|VoiD}} in the Final Bracket to place 13th, giving him a non-top 100 loss for the season.  

However, Sparg0 turned around this bad streak, and was able to show a return to form by winning his next three major events: the major {{Trn|MAJOR UPSET}} and the premier-tier tournaments {{Trn|Kagaribi 10}} and {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}. Although Sparg0's MAJOR UPSET run was notable as he double-eliminated {{Sm|MkLeo}} in Grand Finals, the latter two events were the highlights of his season, as not only were they two of the largest tournaments of the season, but he also defeated {{Sm|acola}} twice at each tournament. This, alongside his victory over acola at GENESIS 9, gave Sparg0 a 5-0 record against acola going into the end of the year's first season.

 

Sparg0's two premier-tier victories and dominance over acola led many players, particularly in North America, to believe Sparg0 would be ranked first by the end of the year's first season. However, the race was actually closer than what most players thought due to acola's dominance over most events he had attended: unlike Sparg0, acola did not have a single placement outside of the top 8 and had no sub-top 50 losses. This lead to the closest race for #1 in ''Ultimate''{{'}}s history, as both players had strong arguments for the #1 placement by the mid-way point of the year.

 

However, Sparg0's final two supermajor events were what hurt his chances. At {{Trn|Crown the Third}}, Sparg0 was upset by {{Sm|Jakal}} and was eliminated by MkLeo at 9th, giving Sparg0 yet another finish outside the top 8. Then, at {{Trn|Get On My Level 2023}}, Sparg0 was upset by {{Sm|Zomba}} and, after making a strong Losers run, lost to {{Sm|Sonix}} to place 2nd. These two placements further weighted down Sparg0's season and was what ultimately allowed acola to pull ahead: with two placements outside the top 8, a sub-top 100 loss, and a worse record compared to acola (against all players qualified for [[LumiRank]] that season, Sparg0's record was 71-16 while acola's record was 90-10), Sparg0 was ultimately ranked 2nd on the [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]]. However, the race remained very close to the very end: had Sparg0 won both Grand Finals sets against Sonix, he would have just barely been ranked #1.  

Sparg0's strong outings at Get On My Level 2023 and Smash Factor X earned him the 1st seed going into {{Trn|Super Smash Con 2023}}, which, at 2,607 entrants, was poised to be the biggest ''Ultimate'' tournament since the post-quarantine era. Expectations on Sparg0 were high, and with a bevy of high-profile Japanese talent attending the tournament, many were wondering if he could repeat his career-highlight successes at the previous two premier events. Unfortunately, Sparg0 ended up with a shocking 49th-place finish at the event, his worst placement ever tied with {{Trn|GENESIS 6}}, {{Trn|2GG: Kongo Saga}}, and {{Trn|GENESIS 7}}. Sparg0's losses at the event were to players who weren't ranked in the top 50: {{Sm|Ly}} and {{Sm|Aaron|p=Florida}}. The magnitude of this placing was not lost on Sparg0's competitors: {{Sm|acola}} ultimately won the event without dropping a set, widening the gap between him and Sparg0.

Despite this devastating performance, Sparg0 was able to bounce back the following weekend by taking {{Trn|Delfino Maza 2023}} over Glutonny. However, the next few events saw Sparg0 have a more difficult time against top players. At {{Trn|Tera}}, Sparg0 lost 2-3 to Tweek before being eliminated by Glutonny for 3rd, despite having defeated him in their last two encounters. {{Trn|ReWired Fest 2023}} saw Sparg0 fall to his bracket demon MuteAce yet again before being swiftly cleaned up by Light 3-0. Finally, Sparg0 continued to have some difficulty against Sonix; Sonix defeated Sparg0 in Winner Finals at {{Trn|Luminosity Makes Moves Miami 2023}} only for Sparg0 to double-eliminate Sonix in a grueling 10-game, hour-long pair of grand finals sets.

Ultimately, Sparg0 was able to deliver on this promise. Although his Round Robin stage was somewhat shaky, which included a close game 5 set with {{Sm|ApolloKage}} and being once again swifly defeated by Light, Sparg0 was able to tear through his Gauntlet Stage defeating MkLeo 3-1 and Glutonny 3-0. The main bracket saw Sparg0 quickly dispatch the rest of the top 4, with Sparg0 defeating both acola and Miya 3-1 despite both players putting up a noticeably more competitive fight than before. Most notable among this was Sparg0's surprising dominance over his two sets against Sonix, whom Sparg0 defeated in Winner Semis 3-0 and Grand Finals 3-1, using {{SSBU|Cloud}} for every game he won instead of [[Aegis]], the character Sparg0 normally used for the Sonic matchup. Sparg0's victory at this event, especially his clean victories against acola, Miya, and Sonix, led many to reassess his overall season: many players believed Sparg0's Watch The Throne allowed him to keep his 2nd-place position, which was confirmed with the release of the [[LumiRank 2023]].

Unfortunately, all these strong performances were offset by the rest of his season, which was arguably Sparg0's worst string of performances since the pandemic. The superregional {{Trn|PSKSHOWDOWN 7}} was his first underperformance, as Sparg0 was upset by {{Sm|Mr. E}} and {{Sm|AlanDiss}} for 5th. However, this was soon overshadowed by his performances during the Golden Week. Despite high hopes for him due to his previous win in Japan as well as his reputation for being great against Japan's best players, Sparg0 underperformed at both of his Japanese events, placing 13th at {{Trn|DELTA 8}} after losing to {{Sm|Rarikkusu}} and {{Sm|Lv.1}} before then placing 33rd at {{Trn|Kagaribi 12}} after losing to {{Sm|Toriguri}} and {{Sm|Noi}}. Finally, he failed to replicate his Smash Factor X victory, falling to 5th at {{Trn|S Factor 11}} after losing two game 5 sets to {{Sm|Cosmos}} and SHADIC, an unfortunate reverse 3-stock in the fourth game effectively sealing the deal in the latter set. Although he was able to even up his record against MkLeo at S Factor 11, this unceremonious conclusion to Sparg0's season, coupled with underwhelming records for a top 10 player (4-5 against the top 10 and 22-12 against the top 50) was reflected in his final ranking, where he was ranked 9th on the [[LumiRank 2024.1]], a placement that surprised many.

Despite this unfortunate placement and his string of underperformances, Sparg0 was able to get out of this slump immediately as the new season started. His third trip to Japan for {{Trn|Kagaribi 12}} saw what many considered a return to form: although knocked into losers by {{Sm|Doramigi}}, Sparg0 was able to make a strong losers run to 3rd, knocking out {{Sm|Asimo}} and getting his revenge against Doramigi and Lv.1, ultimately losing to acola for the first time since Ludwig Smash Invitational. His performance at this event, especially his wins over players that had previously defeated him that year, was a foreshadow to what was coming at {{Trn|Supernova 2024}}. In what many considered his revenge tour, Sparg0 was able to win his runbacks against Hurt and SHADIC, while a surprise character choice of {{SSBU|Roy}} in game 2 onwards allowed him to defeat Sonix and claim his first P-tier win of the season. Sparg0 followed this performance with yet another P-tier victory at {{Trn|Riptide 2024}}, winning every game up to winner's semifinals and taking the event by double-eliminating {{Sm|Shuton}}. At the {{Trn|Luminosity Invitational 2: Back to School}}, he proceeded to lose early to MkLeo and Zomba in round robin pools, sending him to the losers bracket for the main bracket, but Sparg0 managed to claw his way out to a 2nd place finish through an incredible losers run, beating {{Sm|Sonix}} (3-2) by going [[Roy (SSBU)|Roy]], {{Sm|Maister}} (3-0), {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}} (3-1), {{Sm|Asimo}} (3-0), {{Sm|Zomba}} (3-1), {{Sm|Shuton}} 3-0 and managing to reset the bracket against {{Sm|Kola}} (3-1) before losing to Kola. These four performances not only led many to believe Sparg0 had not only redeemed his LumiRank 2024.1 placement, but also made him the undisputed #1 for the [[LumiRank 2024.2]] season.